Friday, November 9, 2018

Professor/Associate Professor in Zoology (marine invertebrates) at Tromsø University Museum

Tromsø University Museum, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, has a permanent position vacant as Professor/Associate professor in Zoology (marine invertebrates). The position is attached to the Department of Natural Sciences.

Further information about the position is available by contacting the Head of Department Torbjørn Alm or Museum Director Lena Aarekol.

The position’s affiliation

Tromsø University Museum has two academic departments, the Department of Cultural Sciences and the Department of Natural Sciences, with the additional units Polar Museum, MS Polstjerna and Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden. This position is at the Department of Natural Sciences, which is responsible for developing and maintaining scientific collections of natural objects (animals, plants, fossils and minerals) as well as public outreach, including the Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden. The Department has a permanent staff of 16, of which eight are in academic positions. At the moment, five PhD students, one post doc and two researchers are affiliated with the Department.

The Department is involved in research within the fields of ancient DNA, barcoding, taxonomy, phylogeography, ecology, palaeontology and biodiversity. The main focus is on northern Norway and the Arctic. The Department has well-established laboratory facilities for modern and ancient molecular biology, palynology, and palaeontology. For more information about the Tromsø University Museum’s activities, visit: https://en.uit.no/tmu .

The position’s field of research/field of work

Tromsø University Museum has a long tradition in research on various marine invertebrates. The successful applicant for the position is expected to carry out research in any taxonomic group of marine invertebrates. Relevant groups are those living in our preferred target region – along the coast of northern Norway and the Arctic. Applicants may focus their research in one or more of the fields biosystematics, biogeography, biodiversity, ecology and molecular genetics.

The position’s duties include research and research-based activities, collection management, dissemination and administration. We also encourage the teaching and supervision of Master and PhD students. This position will include responsibility for the marine invertebrate collections, both within and outside her/his own research field, and curation of other collections within zoology is expected.

The appointee is expected to participate actively in a broad range of museum outreach activities, such as public communications, media interactions and exhibitions. The appointee is furthermore expected to collaborate and seek collaboration within the institution as well as nationally and internationally. She/he is expected to be active in applying for external research funding.

Qualification requirements

The successful candidate is internationally recognized within the field, with scientific merits beyond doctoral level. Research experience within biosystematics/taxonomy of a relevant taxonomic group is required. Experience in museum work, especially scientific collections, is a further asset. A successful track record in applying for external funding and/or a high potential for external funding will be given emphasis when evaluating applicants. Personal suitability will also be evaluated.

For a position as associate professor, you should have a good publication record in terms of papers in peer-reviewed journals and other relevant international publication channels. Documented external funding, experience with research leadership and relevant collaboration with industry will be rated positively. As an associate professor, we expect you to aim at developing yourself further to a full professor.

For a position as professor, you should demonstrate international experience and have a strong publication record in terms of papers in peer-reviewed journals and other relevant international publication channels. You should document the ability to obtain external funding from relevant sources, and be able to initiate and lead research at a high international level. We will also assess outreach, network and teaching and supervision activities.

Applicants should submit a covering letter describing their interest in the position, including, but not restricted to, experience with natural history collections, the development of the zoological collection and future research plans.

The applicants must be able to document teaching qualifications in the form of university-level teaching seminars, other teaching education or through having developed a teaching portfolio. Alternatively, after carrying out an assessment of the applicant’s practical teaching skills, the committee may determine that this may be regarded as of equal value to formal teaching qualifications. For further information about requirements for teaching qualifications, refer to the website about Teaching Portfolios.

Applicants should have a good command of one of the Scandinavian languages and English. Applicants who do not have a good command of a Scandinavian language must be willing to learn Norwegian within a reasonable time period.

Working conditions

At UiT The Arctic University of Norway the allocation of working hours shall be flexible and allocated on a case by case basis.

As a general principle, every Professor and Associate Professor shall spend an equal amount of time on teaching and research and development work, after time spent on other duties has been deducted. As a norm the time resources spent on administrative duties constitutes 5 % for academic staff in this category of position.

The successful applicant must be willing to engage himself/herself in the ongoing development of his/her discipline and the university as a whole.

The remuneration

The remuneration of a Professor is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1013 and for an Associate professor code 1011. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.

Assessment

An expert committee will assess the applicants. The applicants who are assessed as the best qualified, will be called to an interview. The interview shall among other things aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position. A trial lecture may also be held.

For the professor position, it is particularly important that the applicant can document academic activity at a high level over the previous six years in a way that points towards to the continuation of such activity in the future.

Applicants bring original certificates/diplomas and reference letter (work) to a interview.

Interim appointment

If there are no applicants who are clearly qualified for permanent appointment, a temporary appointment for a period of no more than three years may be made, cf. statsansatteloven § 9 and Section 6-5 (1) of the Act relating to universities and university colleges. A permanent appointment shall be made upon application before the three-year period elapses on the basis of a new evaluation. The appointment will become permanent if the applicant is found to be suitably qualified.

In the event of an interim appointment on the basis of lacking teaching qualifications, the applicant must document teaching qualifications through developing a teaching portfolio before the three-year period elapses. The appointment will become permanent in the event that the applicant is found to be suitably qualified.

Gender balance

Women are encouraged to apply.UiT The Arctic University of Norway wishes to increase the proportion of females in senior research positions. In the event that two or more applicants are found to be approximately equally qualified, female applicants will be given priority.

The application documents (mentioned below) must be enclosed in Jobbnorge within the expiration of the application deadline. Documents to be considered must be certified and translated into Scandinavian or English.

The application must include:

Letter of application

CV (containing a complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional work)

for articles: the journal’s name and volume, the first and last page of the article, year of publication

for publications: publisher, printer, year of publication, number of pages

Works- The applicant have to submit up to 10 works that are central to his/her production. Doctoral thesis is in this context regarded as one work.

In addition, the applicant shall provide a description of his/her scientific production stating which works he/she considers the most important and shall therefore be the main emphasis of the assessment. A brief description of the other listed works shall also be included to demonstrate depth of production. These descriptions shall be an attachment to the application.